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Save Money with Online Meetings

April 28, 2009 By Jeff Leave a Comment

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There has been a lot of talk lately about how this current downturn that the worldwide economy is in is not going to be going anywhere in the near term.  The Western big business philosophy is to recoil and wait for people to start buying again.  The Eastern and entrepreneur philosophy is that this is the time to buy good business cheap and manoeuvre yourself into an incredibly profitable position.

Online Meeting Software

One of the methods that I have been using lately to limit my travel both for personal work and with my day-job is running online meetings using Go-To-Meeting.  I chose Go-To-Meeting by default since it was the program that the company that I work for was using.  I got to play with the software before getting it myself to use for my own meetings, it isn’t that my side projects are to the point that I do a lot of travel meetings, none actually, but it did add a very advanced communications channel.

I don’t just use the software because it is what I started with, but don’t take my word for it there is a decent go-to-meeting review here. One of the tools that I have used a lot when working with designers is the ability to take over the others mouse and keyboard to better explain what I am looking for.  This is almost impossible to do over the phone, and it is very slow when you try it by email.  Using a messenger service is faster, but it is still much slower than using GoToMeeting.

Try out GoToMeeting for 30 days free and if you click here you will also get $10 off when you order. 

You have to CLICK HERE, to be sure that you don’t miss out.


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Time for a Trip

December 15, 2008 By Jeff 2 Comments

It is getting to be that time again.  Time to think about another trip.
With Christmas fast approaching, deadlines piling up and winter coming, it is time to start thinking about getting away from here for a week or 3.  We have been talking it over about where we want to go, and what we want to get out of the trip itself.  I have been following Kim and Rob over at  and thinking that one of their trips would be something fun to emulate.It would be different from the last few that we have went on.  Vegging in DR, shopping in NYC, visiting family in Florida and of course Disney.  These were fun, but I think that I need to go somewhere else and see something else.

Punta Cana 2008

So now the question is where? 

I am thinking about a 2 week tour of the Greek Isles, or maybe San Francisco.  Or Spain.  There are a couple of that drive where we go.  I live on the Atlantic Coast of Canada, and don’t want to go too many time zones away.  That might actually negate San Fran from the list.

Timezones are not a big deal for a long trip, but since I figure I will only be able to get away for a week at most I don’t want to spend time recovering from Jet Lag in either direction.  3 time zones I think are max, maybe 4.  So that really limits me to the west coast of Europe and the entire eastern seaboard of NA.

Where would you go?

We really have no idea where we want to go, but we do know that we want to have a blast, and there has to be beaches and warm weather.  the trip is scheduled for February.  So leave us some suggestions and links so that we can get this party started.  Once I know where and when it will be just the motivation that I need to get all of the crap that I have on my plate now DONE.

Cheers,

JM

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How to Piss off your customers

November 16, 2008 By Jeff Leave a Comment

I got a call earlier this week that the coat that I dropped off at the retail outlet to get fixed was back.  I had only dropped it off a couple of weeks ago, and was told that it could take up to 6 weeks for it be get back.  That didn’t even occur to me when I got to the call on Monday afternoon, or this morning when I was heading out there.  I have a hard time keeping track of time at teh best of times, and when I am busy it gets much worse.

So, I get out there, it is a pain in the ass to get to the outlet in the first place since it is located in one of those parking lot jungles on the out skirts of town.  You know what I am talking about, those places that people like to call “business parks” which don’t have the necessary infracstruce to handle the loads, or lack of loads, of people in cars that all try to cram into them.

When I get to the store I wanted to get some gloves, so I go and pick them up, I am a guy so that took me all of 5 minutes.  Then I stand in line, and wait, and wait.

This was not me today

This was not me today

This is the point where I am getting annoyed, there are 4 tills, 2 people manning them and 3 floor people wandering around annoying customers that don’t want there help.  I stood in line for 15 minutes, and there were only 3 people ahead of me.  When I get to the front I explain that i am there to pick up my coat.  They search and search and then come to realize that I was called by mistake.

 

Opps, but then the lady that took my coat in the first place tries to tell me that there would be no reasonable way that my coat should be there, see they send it out only once a week and it takes………

No kidding, but then why was I called, and why is it my responsibility to quesiton when I am called.

The saving grace of the entire experience was that the one that was serving me at the time gave me her card and told me if anyone called to say that my coat was in, I can call her and she will courier my coat to me at no charge.

All in all, it was a 4 hour ordeal that made a waste of my day and all that I got out of it was a pair of gloves.

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